GOVERNOR-GENERAL Michael Jeffery has urged people to spend less time idolising youthful celebrities and look to the elderly for wisdom.
Major-General Jeffery, who retires this year, recommended in an interview published today that Australians put substance ahead of glamour.
"We have had too much of an emphasis on celebrity and that tends to be younger (people),'' he told News Limited.
"I think there is a lot of the glitz and the hero worship of so-called glamour as against substance, and that impacts on the respect for older people.
"I don't think we spend enough time extracting the wisdom of older people.''
The Governor-General also said climate change and sustainability were more important issues to consider than the terror threat.
"The war on terrorism is perhaps a second-order issue in comparison to problems we are going to have with resources and water,'' Maj-Gen Jeffery said.
"The greatest challenge we are about to face is whether the globe has sufficient renewable resources to meet the aspirations of, firstly, a burgeoning middle class in China and India, and secondly, the global population expansion estimated to go to 10 billion by 2020.''
In a contradiction to Rudd Government policy, he said nuclear power should not be ruled out as low-emissions power source.
"All options should be considered.
"It is something - along with everything else ... wind power, tidal, wave solar, ultra-clean coal ... all those things - we should be looking at in an educated and informed way to come up with the best solution.''
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23493136-29277,00.html